Final answer:
Gene expression involves the synthesis of proteins from nucleic acids and occurs in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Prokaryotes primarily regulate gene expression at the transcriptional level, whereas eukaryotes have multiple levels of regulation due to their complex cellular structures.
Step-by-step explanation:
Regulation of Gene Expression in Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes
The processes that involve proteins and nucleic acids, where RNA is involved and which occur in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes, refer to gene expression. This is a stage in the overall process of how information in DNA is used to produce proteins. In prokaryotes, the regulation of gene expression primarily occurs at the transcriptional level, with transcription and translation happening almost simultaneously in the cytoplasm. By contrast, in eukaryotes, gene expression is regulated at multiple stages, due to their complexity and the presence of intracellular organelles.
In eukaryotic cells, DNA is transcribed into RNA in the nucleus. Then, RNA is transported out of the nucleus into the cytoplasm, where it is translated into proteins on ribosomes. This separation allows for regulation at the epigenetic, transcriptional, post-transcriptional, translational, and post-translational levels. Gene expression in eukaryotes is particularly intricate because it is controlled independently for each gene and there's a greater number of them compared to prokaryotes.